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by Boomert - Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey 16 Jan 2010
The book opens dramatically when Charlie, the narrator, is taken by Jasper Jones to a macabre scene at the old jarrah tree by the river. Charlie’s peaceful--if nerdish--life is overturned ‘like a snowdome paperweight that’s been shaken’. Throughout a summer of cricket matches, the Vietnam War and shy courtship of the beautiful Eliza, some disturbing facts are revealed while others remain suppressed. Present tense and short sentences are often employed, enticing the reader along at a lively pace. The feel and smell of small-town Australia are evoked skillfully, and yet (many) literary references are to US classics, Mark Twain and especially To Kill a Mockingbird. Elements of the coming-of-age story are mixed with those of the detective novel, livened with scenes of laugh-aloud humour. The sparring dialogue between Charlie and his friend Je? rey, and the references to aspiring novelists will seem--to some readers--true to character, to others, tiresome. Jasper Jones, the Aboriginal scapegoat for the town’s misadventures, is elusive and independent to the end. Themes of courage and cowardice, and the vitality of the ever-observant Charlie, will ensure this book’s appeal especially to readers who are young and/or male.

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine (March 2009, Vol 88, No 6.) is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2009, Thorpe-Bowker.

by AmandaMM - My pick for 2009! 19 Nov 2009
This is my favourite book for this year! An Australian "coming of age" novel with nods to both Harper Lee and Mark Twain, I think Silvey's "Jasper Jones" is set to become our version of "To Kill a Mockingbird" and should be on all high school reading lists. His well developed characters always ring true and the plot moves very well indeed as we follow Charlie, Jasper and Jeffrey through the summer that will change all their lives. Craig Silvey evokes the torpor of a long, hot summer in small-town Western Australia and accurately depicts the petty meanness, ignorance and prejudices inherent in some levels of every small community. As they move out of childhood and begin to work out the kind of adults they will eventually become, Charlie and Jeffrey simply glow with life as they face, and come to terms with, their first challenges. I truly loved this book, not least because of the insight it has given me into the machinations of my own teenaged sons mind and would eagerly recommend it.

Author Biography: Craig Silvey
At the age of 19, Craig Silvey wrote his first novel, Rhubarb, published by Fremantle Press in 2004. In 2005, Rhubarb was chosen as the 'One Book' for the Perth International Writers' Festival, and was included in the national Books Alive campaign. In 2007, Silvey released The World According to Warren, a picture book affectionately starring the guide-dog from Rhubarb. Jasper Jones is his second novel.

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